The Colorado Avalanche had been struggling on the power play prior to Tuesday night’s 8-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Through the first 1o games of the season, they had converted on just 10.3% of their opportunities with a man advantage, the third-worst mark in the NHL despite their hot start. Despite having some of the best offensive talents in the league, there was a disconnect on the power play, and the team had been struggling.
However, the power play finally came alive, as the Avalanche converted on four of their six opportunities after just converting four times in 10 games. Martin Necas converted on a one-timer in the first period, while Nathan MacKinnon added two more in the second. Victor Olofsson scored the final PP goal in the third period for one of his three goals and five points on the night.
And we scored 8 of them 🤝 https://t.co/cKTzVbNLuS pic.twitter.com/V6PmQAP8jP
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 29, 2025
Jared Bednar was very pleased with his team’s offensive attack after the game, and said that it’s more important to celebrate getting the tough wins in this league than thinking about how to improve on the four goals his team let up in the second period.
JARED BEDNAR SAYS EVERYONE WAS WILLING TO SHOOT
He also detailed what changed with his players, and it had nothing to do with puck placement or how they were shooting it.
“I’ll give you one thing. It looked like tonight, everyone wanted to shoot it. It wasn’t skate around, look for the perfect play. It was, [Necas] is hammering it right away. Cale [Makar] is hammering it right away, [MacKinnon] is hammering it right away. And then we got one, and then they just kept doing it. [Olofsson] same thing. Everyone wanted to shoot the puck tonight,” Bednar said.
In hockey, it’s important to get pucks on the net, even if it’s not the best quality of shot. Rebounds, tips and all sorts of crazy things happen when the puck is loose in front of the net, and for a team that has as much talent on the offensive end as the Avalanche, it’s easy for good things to happen amidst all the chaos in the crease. Bednar emphasized that the shot quality isn’t the most important thing when on the man-advantage.
“We’ve got some really good shooters up there, and sure, teams are going to put pressure on you and try to take them away, but it doesn’t have to be the perfect shot all the time. I think we can learn a lot just from that today. And they’ve been sticking with it. The meetings have been good. The discussion has been good between the players. It was going to come at some point, good night to get a bunch,” he said.
Tuesday night’s explosion pushed the Avalanche up to No. 23 in the power play percentage rankings, with a total of 17.8%. Does one game mean that the issues are fixed? Absolutely not, but it’s a step in the right direction. If the burgundy and blue can build off Tuesday’s performance and learn how to be more efficient at these critical moments, it could lead to a formula that this team has been dying for — especially in the postseason — the last couple of years.
